Sunday, March 1, 2009

Transit of Saturn in 2009

The transit of Saturn around 20° Leo in the sidereal zodiac has been shown to be linked to many significant events in US history, including the murders of three nationally recognised politicians in November 1978 in two linked but separate events. Indeed, an exhaustive study of significant events in the history of the USA has shown that they are without exception explained with the SAMVA USA chart based on a detailed assessment and interpretation by vedic astrology as per the Systems' Approach. The events in the national life are seen to be the product of evolutionarytrends which are explained by planetary periods and transits which time the expression of karmic events, for either good or bad.

In the 20° Cancer rising chart of the USA, the slow moving planets Saturn and Jupiter are seen to be functional malefics due to their rulership of bad houses, making them capable of generating setbacks in the national life. Albeit not ruling any houses, the Moon's nodes, Rahu and Ketu, are considered functional malefics for all ascendants. The good karma in the Cancer rising chart is seen to come through the natal placements and transit strength of the planets Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars and Venus, which are functional benefics in the chart, due to their rulership of good houses.

Saturn in Leo in 2009In the summer of 2009, transit Saturn, which is the 8th lord of obstacles and endings in the SAMVA USA chart, will become conjunct the most effective point (MEP) of the 2nd house at 20° Leo. This conjunction becomes important as Saturn sub-period is operating within the Venus major-period since February 17, 2009. Hence, the energy of Saturn becomes highly important in the national life, both as read from its natal placement at 26° 46' Scorpio and 5th house and its transit in the sign Leo, which is ruled by the 2nd lord Sun. As the Sun is placed at 23° 44' Capricorn and 7th house, it receives an aspect from the functional malefic planet Saturn. As the 2nd house is natally afflicted by Rahu at 17° 47' Aries and 10th house, this point is sensitive in the national chart. In fact, the natal placement explains why 4 US Presidents and 28 nationally prominent politicians have been murderd in US history since the middle of the 19th century.

From March 1 to July 28, 2009 transit Saturn is moving retrograde in the MEP of the 2nd house and thus in applying conjunction with this point until May 17th, when the conjunction becomes the closest, sliglhtly within the important 1° orb from May 7 to May 27. As transit 2nd lord Sun is in old age in Aries and then infancy in Pisces from May 10 to May 20, the impact of the conjunct aspect could be greatest at that time. Fortunately, the aspect does not become exact, lessening the influence in the national life. Nevertheless, as Saturn is a first rate malefic and natally afflicts the Sun and is transit conjunct a point that is afflicted natally by Rahu, this is likely to have an influence to increase jitters in the financial market. This more so as transit Jupiter as 6th lord of financial stability will have entered infancy in Aquarius and the 8th house. It lessens the upset the financial market that transit Saturn will not become closely afflicted by natal Rahu as it did in the Autumn of 2008. In order to gauge the likely influence, it is helpful to look at recent history involving the same transit.

Saturn in Leo in 2008In September and October 2008, transit Saturn went through the MEP of the 2nd house of the SAMVA USA chart, albeit under massive afflictions from natal Rahu and transit Jupiter. At that time, the US financial system malfunctioned and the stock market dropped significantly. These events were linked to Saturn moving in direct motion through the MEP of the 2nd house of the chart. The 2nd house rules wealth and status of a country. The difficulty was exacerbated when transit Sun became weak in transit as it moved into old age in Virgo and then entered its sign of debilitation from October 12, 2008.

Saturn in Leo in 1978The tragic events that transpired in November 1978 are no less memorable. At that time, the Sun sub-period was operating within the Mercury major period. The Sun rules amongst other things, the leader of the country and high ranking politicians. Transit Saturn, the lord of obstacles and endings (including death), was exactly afflicting the MEP of the 2nd house, which rules public harmony and status of the country. From there Saturn was aspecting the 4th house, which rule communal harmony, the 8th house of government communication with the people and the 11th house of hopes and ideals. Given the natal afflictions to this house and the operation of the Sun period, it is not totally unexpected that the US experienced the death of many politicians by violent means as well as the largest murder (in the form of a forced suicide) of men, women and children upto that time.

The killing of US Congressman RyanUS Congressman Leo Ryan from California was gunned down by members of the US religious cult, The Peoples Temple, in Guyana, South America on November 17, 1978.

In August 1977, Jim Jones, leader of the Peoples Temple in San Francisco, fled to Jonestown with his followers, after increasing media scrutiny alleging his criminal wrongdoing as Chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission.

In 1978 it emerged that many cult members, and American citizens, were being forcibly prevented from leaving the compound in Jonestown.

On November 1, 1978, Congressman Ryan announced he would visit Jonestown. He did so as part of a government investigation and received permission and government funds to do so. He made the journey in his role as chairman of a congressional subcommittee with jurisdiction over U.S. citizens living in foreign countries. He asked the other members of his Bay Area congressional delegation to join him on the investigation to Jonestown, but they all declined his invitation. Ryan had also asked his friend Indiana Congressman Dan Quayle to accompany him – Quayle had served with Ryan on the Government Operations Committee – but Quayle was unable to go on the trip. Quayle went on to become Vice President of the USA in 1988. The trip therefore had national significance. This is more so as Congressman Ryan was also accompanied by a large delegation of government officials, media representatives and concerned relatives.

It is a fact that Ryan made some public statements prior to the visit that may have charged the atmosphere, including that a "settlement deep in the bush might be reasonably run on authoritarian lines” and that if the situation had become "a gulag", he would do everything he could to "free the captives".

On November 14, Ryan left Washington and arrived in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana For three days, Ryan continued negotiation with Jones's legal counsel and held perfunctory meetings with embassy personnel and Guyanese officials.

Finally, on November 17, Ryan and the delegation boarded a small plane for the flight to an airfield at Port Kaituma a few miles outside of Jonestown. That night, the media and the delegation were returned to the airfield for accommodations following Jones's refusal to allow them to stay the night; the rest of the group remained. The next morning, around 11:00 A.M. local time, the media and the delegation returned and took part in interviewing Peoples Temple members. Around 3:00 p.m., 14 Temple defectors, and Larry Layton posing as a defector, boarded a truck and were taken to the airstrip, with Ryan wishing to stay another night to assist any others that wished to leave. Shortly thereafter, a failed knife attack on Congressman Ryan occurred while he was arbitrating a family dispute on leaving. The entire group left Jonestown and arrived at the Kaituma airstrip by 4:45 p.m. local time. Their exit transport planes, a twin-engine Otter and a Cessna, did not arrive until 5:10 p.m. The smaller six-seat Cessna was just taxiing to the end of the runway when one of its occupants, Larry Layton, opened fire on those inside, wounding several. Concurrently, several other Peoples Temples members who had escorted the group out began to open fire on the transport plane, killing Congressman Ryan, three journalists and a defecting Temple member, while wounding nine others.

Mass murder at JonestownThe Peoples Temple was an organization best known for the mass suicide of over 900 of its members in Jonestown, the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the incidents of September 11, 2001. Those events included the murder of, among others, Congressman Leo Ryan, only Congressman murdered in the line of duty in the history of the United States.

While the Temple originated in Indiana in the 1950s, after leader Jim Jones prophesied an apocalypse that would create a socialist Eden on earth, it moved to Redwood Valley, California in the late 1960s. Its headquarters later moved into San Francisco, where Jones remained until July 1977, when Jones fled with almost 1,000 Temple members to Jonestown, Guyana following investigations by local media.

The poisonings in Jonestown followed the murder of five others by Temple members at a nearby Port Kaituma airstrip. Clearly, the applying conjunction of transit 8th lord Saturn to the MEP of the 2nd house, which crossed that point a few weeks later and then became stationary there for several months, increasing the karmic pressure on these indications. At a national level this energy is consistent with a loss in the family.Killing of Mayor Moscone and Harvey MilkTwo other nationally prominent politicians from California, San Francisco Mayor, George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor and Gay Rights Activist, Harvey Milk, were gunned down by former Supervisor Dan White in a separate incident on November 27, 1978.

Dan White resigned from the Board of Supervisors. His resignation meant that Moscone would choose White's successor, and thus could tip the Board's balance of power in Moscone's favor. Recognizing this, those who supported a more conservative agenda talked White into changing his mind. White requested that Moscone re-appoint him to his former seat.

Moscone originally indicated a willingness to consider, but more liberal city leaders, including Milk, lobbied him against the idea, and Moscone ultimately decided not to re-appoint White. On November 27, 1978, White went to San Francisco City Hall to meet with Moscone and make a final plea for re-appointment. When Moscone declined to reconsider his decision, White shot and killed Moscone, then went to Milk's office and shot him dead as well.

Although a local politician in San Francisco, Harvey Milk is probably considered the first elected national political leader advocating equal rights for those with same sex orientation. This is because San Francisco is home to a largest gay community in the USA.

In ancient vedic astrology, strong sexual desire, including gay sexual orientation, is seen to be a product of the influence of the 8th house or its lord or Rahu, indicators of carnal desire, on sensitive points in the chart, notably the 1st house. In the SAMVA USA chart, this influence is not prominent with respect to the 1st house. However, as both 8th lord Saturn and Rahu afflict the indications of the Sun and its house in the chart, this either gives some such indication or tension with regard to such matters in the national life.

Astrologically, the assassination of Harvery Milk, both as a politician but more importantly as a national spokesman for gay rights, is consistent with the transit of Saturn as 8th lord exactly over the senstive point of 20° Leo of the SAMVA USA chart in November 1978. The killer, Dan White, was clearly upset by Milk's politics. The fact that White was later sentenced for manslaughter and not pre-meditated murder added to the grief of the gay community.

ConclusionWhile the transit of Saturn may create a disturbance to the indications of the 2nd house in 2009, these are likely to be less than in 1978 and are also expected to be more linked to economic matters given the operation of the Saturn sub-period during this time.